thailand top 10

so im finally kind of accepting that my time in thailand is quickly coming to an end.  i have 9 days left teaching and 13 days till i leave for india.  i am trying to figure out where the past year has gone and thought it would be a good idea to make a list of my top 10 moments/experiences/places in thailand! 

**i'm not including any of my travels to vietnam, laos, and cambodia in this since that would have taken up all of my top 10!

1.  my students--i have been blessed to have amazing students the past 2 semesters.  they are amazingly smart kids and this year wouldnt have been the same without them.  from oops pooping his pants in class last semester, to how-poh chasing me around school to give me high-fives, to poon-pun finally speaking to me for the first time, my students are what have made this year the most memorable.  yeah they've been crazy at times (like my special class last semester when i had 24 students aged 2-5 for an hour everyday by myself....) but i wouldnt have changed a minute of it.

2.  thai food--before coming to thailand i had only eaten thai food twice.  all that i knew about it was that i liked pad thai.  i also couldnt handle anything spicy to save my life.  fast forward a year and now i eat a wide array of thai food and i LOVE spice.  some of my favorite thai dishes are som tam (papaya salad), tom yum gung (spicy soup with shrimp), nam tok moo (an issan dish made with pork), gai yang (grilled chicken), laap moo, and gaeng khiao wan gai (green curry with chicken).  and although i LOVE thai food, i'm really looking forward to eating some dishes that don't involve rice...

3.  songkran--the 3 day non-stop nation-wide water fight!  so much fun especially since i celebrated in chiang mai and i was there with kianna, alysha and chelsea.  chiang mai was the perfect place to be for this celebration; the people were friendly, everyone from the little toddlers to the old grandmas got involved in this celebration.  pouring ice water onto anyone and everyone and getting soaked to the bone for 3 days was a great way to celebrate the thai new year.

4.  koh samet--this is probably my favorite island in all of thailand.  this was the first thai island i ever went to and it has had a special place in my heart ever since.  it had it all--beautiful white sandy beaches, warm water, an amazing night life, and its close to bangkok!  i've been to this island 5 times in the past year and every time i go i fall a little more in love with this place.  from my first visit there for the king's birthday with all my girlfriends to spending weekends there with new friends, koh samet will always have a special place in my heart.

5.  elephants--i love elephants.  from the 2 elephants that are walked around the neighborhood around where i live, to spending a day taking care of and learning to train and elephant, elephants have been an amazing part of my year.  i never imagined that i would get to ride on the neck of the elephant telling it which direction to go and being able to give an elephant a bath.  they really are amazing animals.

6.  renting motor bikes on koh lanta--when kianna alysha and i were on koh lanta we decided to rent our own motor bikes and drive around the island.  it was one of my favorite days ever!  it was such freeing experience and a great way to explore the island.  we drove to little towns, to the national park, and to look out points with amazing views.  it was a perfect day.

7.  ayutthaya--over christmas break chelsea and i traveled up to ayutthaya and check out the ruins.  while the ruins were amazing, the best part of this trip was the epic photoshoots that chelsea and i had.  we really utilized the self-timer on her camera and took advantage of the 3 shots 1 click option.  we got some amazing pictures with some amazing temple ruins.

8.  parents in thailand--having my mom and dad come out and visit me was a great experience.  being able to show them where i live and work was really exciting.  the best part was taking them to eat out where i live.  the "restaurant" is a little stall in the middle of a parking lot with metal tables and plastic chairs.  the look on my moms face when i told her we were eating there was great, but i think they really did love the food.  other highlights of their visit included going to a rooftop bar in bangkok, getting caught in an epic downpour in chiang mai and getting completely soaked, and our thai cooking class.

9.  surin islands--this place truly is paradise.  it doesnt get much better than staying in a tent that is pitched right in front of the clearest, bluest water you have ever seen.  we spent 5 days on this island and our life revolved around laying in the sun, snorkeling and chasing little nemos through the water, and relaxing.  rough rough.

10.  khao san road--the epicenter for backpackers in south east asia.  this road is dirty and super touristy, but its always a good time.

monsoon season.

so monsoon season is in full swing here in thailand, and i saw firsthand its full effects this past weekend while i was meeting up with the girls in pattaya.  as we went out that night at around 10, it was beginning to rain, but not too bad so we thought nothing of it.  when we left to go home that night at around 3 we walked out into the street and saw that in the past few hours the road had transformed into a river--so crazy!  we thought it was great at the time, splashing around in the water, jumping around, and even trying to swim in the water to get back to our hotel.  when we woke up in the morning we realized that the rain had not stopped at all since the night before an the streets were even more flooded.  the water came up to our waists; it was quite the adventure trying to get out of the flooded areas with all of our bags and trying to convince motorbike taxis to take us to the bus station.  eventually we all made it back to where we needed to be, but it was definitely an experience i wont forget!

its hard to believe that i only have 2 1/2 weeks left teaching.  i stop and wonder sometimes where the past year has gone and it just blows my mind that 11 months have gone by since i first arrived in thailand!  the past week or so has been consumed with trying to figure out all the details for my trip to india.  i submitted my passport to get the india visa (which cost an arm and a leg!) and i have also bought a new return ticket and extended my time in india!  i'm now spending 3 full weeks in india before coming back to thailand for a week before i fly home!  its going to be a crazy month of traveling but i cant wait for it!

love you all!